Science Operations Resume

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been restored to full operations, making intensive science observations of Mars, four days after it unexpectedly switched to its backup computer.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had spontaneously swapped from its "A" side computer and subsystems to the redundant "B" side on Aug. 6. Engineers are investigating the root cause for that event, which bore some similarities to side swaps by the orbiter in 2007 and 2008.

The spacecraft has been studying Mars with an advanced set of instruments since 2006. It has returned more data about the planet than all other past and current missions to Mars combined.